Malta Girls Sports Tour

During October half term some members of the under 15s and under 14s jetted off to Malta to represent the school at hockey and netball. Despite some unfair judgement in the world cup rugby final the night before, spirits were still high and we set off from St Peters square even more determined to do well.

Our flight went smoothly and we arrived in Malta to be greeted with beautiful sunshine and our guide Tony who transported us to our Hotel. That afternoon we had our first hockey fixture against a club called Orli. We were a bit surprised and apprehensive at the fact that most of the team were made up of boys and we began the game not feeling as confident as usual.

They were, as we had guessed, a very strong side but the final score line of 4-1 to Orli did not reflect on the game itself. Our mixed age group played very strongly throughout with brilliant defending by Becky Heywood and Louisa Smith and great forward play by Tessa Langford and TJ Henchoz who was our goalscorer. A special mention should also go to Hannah Blower who was named player of the match by our guide Tony who was cheering on the sideline.

The following day we had our netball training with English masterclass coach Sash. It was a really fun experience and we all gained something - learning new drills, skills and general gameplay. Later that evening was karaoke time! At first everyone seemed shy but with a bit of encouragement we all managed to sing our way through some classics. Despite our best efforts though we were unable to get the teachers to perform.

Tuesday was under 16s national tournament day. This consisted of other English schools which had also come over to Malta to play netball. With our under 14s cheering from the sideline we set off going for gold. Captained by Shell Layton we played well throughout winning our first match against Bleniem (a school from London) 2nd team 4-1. We then drew against Altrigham in an extremely close game. Next we played Bleniem’s first team and won 4-2 and to top off our great morning beat St. Dunstans 6-0.

In the second part of the tournament we played “versatility” - which is where everyone moves two positions down from their normal position. This time we beat Altringham but lost in a close game to Blenheim 1. We then again beat St Dunstans 4-1. Now to our disbelief we were in the final playing Blenheims first team yet again.

It turned out to be an extremely close match ending in us winning 5-3 to clench the trophy. It was a brilliant achievement to have won this as all the other teams were older than us and also very strong. During this tournament the under 14s also had a netball fixture against a local Maltese netball club. Despite the fact that our opposition needed some polishing up on the rules of netball it turned out to be a good, fun match with our under 14s coming out on top to win quite convincingly.

That night we all went bowling. We were split up into 4 different teams where we discovered each others new found talents or in some cases the not so brilliant techniques and general hate of bowling. A special mention should go to Asia Wilmot who scored an amazing 248 points over the course of 2 games. Wooden spoons went Lizzie Jenkins for the under 14s and ‘Shell Layton for the under 15s. Also well done to Ms Bushnell who scored the most points from amongst the teachers.

On Wednesday both the under 14s and 15s had 2 separate international tournaments. The under 14s were up first. They played extremely well throughout getting to the final to play Kaisers. Unfortunately they were just pipped to the post and lost 6-2. Special mentions to Louisa Smith who defended brilliantly and Kate Jones who hardly missed a goal.

Now it was the under 15s turn. We also played very well as a team and went through to the semis as runners up in our group. We played Saracens in an extremely close game narrowly losing 2-1. It was a huge disappointment after the previous day triumphs - especially losing so closely in a game that we thought we should have won

We played our last hockey match late that evening again against boys aged between 15 and 10. An all-round good game was played but no matter how hard we tried we could not get a goal. The final score was 1-0 to the opposition. Although we did lose both our hockey matches we gained a lot from them. The opposition were in both cases great teams to watch and we all thoroughly enjoyed playing them.

Our final day was spent visiting the capital Valetta where we did a lot of sight seeing and shopping for gifts to bring back home with us. A sunny afternoon meant a trip to the beach where we had well earned relaxation and a swim in the sea. For our final night in Malta we all went out to the Hard Rock Café where we had our own little presentation evening. Everyone was awarded with something. The best prizes going to Annie Dent, Kate Owens and Becky Heywood who were each presented with a granny nightie for being the most vain on tour - which they had to wear all the way home.

We would just like to say that on behalf of everyone who went on the tour - thank you so much to Ms Bushnell, Ms Ferneyhough and Mrs Williams for organising such a great tour. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and know that it wouldn’t have been such a success without the hard work that you put in - so thanks again.